For every end, there is a new beginning

I did my final session at The Healing Loft in northeast Minneapolis this afternoon. It was a wonderful way to finish, doing very heart-warming work with someone who was ready to move beyond fear and pain and into light and confidence. It is my passion, my reward. It is why I do this work.

Unfortunately, it was probably the last session I will ever do at that location. They are closing their doors as of the end of the week (or probably the next week or two, depending upon how their shutdown goes). So that means I need to find a new location. For the moment, I'm now back working at my home studio location in Brooklyn Center and once again, looking for practice space. Check the location tab on the Explore with Hypnosis website

It is the end of a (rather brief) era. I started working there in January, not too long after I left my day job. It was the ideal opportunity for me. I was able to rent space by the session, to pay as you go, allowing me to build up my practice without having to jump feet-first into a full-time rental of space.

I'm really gonna miss that place. I loved the atmosphere there. Duncan and Katie were absolute sweethearts to work with and the combination of practice space and informal atmosphere were great. It was wonderful to simply have a different place to go to do my work, not working from my home.

Unfortunately, some things don't last. And I learned only Monday that they were going to close their doors. So now, I'm looking for space again.

Hopefully, I can find a similar deal to what I found at the Loft. I'm putting that out to God. Hopefully God will answer that prayer just like the last ones. Yet at the moment, the things that have come back have been somewhat less than encouraging. I've had several disappointments so far. There is a lot of office space open but not much in the form that I'm looking for.

They say that when one door closes, another door opens. I'm eager to see where that new door leads.

In the last couple of months, I have also been finishing (again) my rewrites of The Fifth Key (5K for short) after numerous comments, critiques, etc. Personally, I think it's pretty good. I also just redrafted my query letter and I'm getting ready to send it out. In the mean time, I'm resuming work on Children of the Stars, the sequel to 5K.

I'm also beginning to work on the second edition of The Cosmic Bridge, something I've been putting off for a long time. Time to get to work on that.

I said I wanted more time to write. I guess the universe took me at my word. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. It is in times of disappointment that we need to remember: For every end, there is a new beginning. After the darkness comes the dawn.

No, it's not free - meeting the challenge of the healer's doorway way

I had some interesting dialogs in the last day or two. Interesting but a bit dismaying. I received inquiries from several potential clients. One in particular was from a person who had significant issues and needed some deep healing work. During her call, I learned quite a bit about her issue, listening extensively as she bent my ear. We got to the point where she clearly knew I could help her. We agreed to that and started the process.

As we talked, I brought up my scheduling program to book the initial session. She finally asked what my rates were, which I told her. There was a sudden silence, followed by "why so much?"

I explained that I charged the standard rate for NGH (National Guild of Hypnotists) hypnotherapists in the metro area (actually I currently charge a little less, since I haven't raised my rates in a while. I plan to do that in January).

There was a grudging "OK" and I could almost hear the sticker shock reverberating in her mind. We set a session appointment time and I asked her for her credit card number to confirm the booking.

There was a "What?" followed by stony silence on the other end of the line.

I repeated my request, adding that I asked people to pay for the initial session at the time they booked.
Most hypnotherapists ask for payment for the first session up front. Some in the guild actually ask for the cost of five sessions at initial booking.


"You mean we have to pay you in advance?" the woman's voice demanded, indignant
"Yes," I replied, "I ask for payment for the first session to confirm the reservation."
"Er - let me get back to you. I need to check with my husband."
I sometimes get this response when someone changes her mind and decides not to book a session. This 'missing man' argument is a graceful way to chicken out. Usually, this happens on learning that hypnotherapy costs money.

As our dialog concluded, we hung up and left it at that. I sincerely doubt I will hear from her again.
In retrospect, I wondered if she had expected me to offer her some kind of inexpensive healing trick that would solve all her problems. Was she expecting her problem to be fixed by my waving a "hypnosis wand"? At bargain rates?

On the flip side - I have learned a fair amount in the business world in the last six or so months. And one of the biggest lessons has been on the need to make it easy for the customer to do business with you. In retrospect I can see how the sticker shock would have affected her. I suspect that many hypnotherapists have encountered the same issue, where clients back out on encountering this financial barrier. Clearly, some change was needed to make it easier for people like her to get into my studio in the first place.

I have lately been migrating to a new business model advanced by one of the leading instructors in the NGH, Scott McFall. Scott advocates conducting an initial consult session. In this new business model, I don't ask for a lot of $ in advance for the initial consult session. If the client and the hypnotist agree that it will work to move forward then (in my variation) the initial consult becomes part of the first session, incorporated into the full hypnotherapy healing package. If the client decides not to proceed, there is only the charge for the consult session.


Healing work, especially the type this particular client needed to do, is difficult. My bet is that she had backed away from work with several other potential hypnotherapists as well. This inability to commit is part of what I call the challenge of the healer's doorway. Often, it can be one of the biggest pieces of the problem. And when that occurs, when the client won't even enter the studio, there is little the healer can do.

So in order for the process to work, the client first has to come in through the doorway. The person needs to understand and feel comfortable with the healing process, and then with the idea that it will cost money. The commitment occurs only when we begin, when the client understands and is comfortable with the process. At that point, we the person needs to commit to the work.

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For this particular person, the first big hurdle was simply to begin the work - and to accept that she actually had to pay for it. In short, she needed to overcome the challenge of the healer's doorway.

Once in the door, hypnotherapy can offer an amazing toolbox to help the client resolve issues deep within the subconscious. Yes, the client can and should learn about the process, become comfortable with it before beginning the work. But in the end, healing work is a commitment.
No, it's not free.

Moving, Moving, Moving

This week has been "entertaining," to phrase it euphemistically.

Early in the week, I learned that the studio where I have been conducting my hypnotherapy sessions is closing. As a result, Explore with Hypnosis is moving to a new location, my home studio in Brooklyn Center, MN. This is planned to be a temporary location until more permanent digs can be found. However, the client will find it a homey place to conduct hypnotherapy - literally.

Check the Location tab on the Explore with Hypnosis, hypnotherapy homepage to find the location of my home studio in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

For many years - in fact, since I was originally certified with the National Guild of Hypnotists back in 1998 - I have been conducting hypnotherapy work at my studio in Brooklyn Center, MN. Even while located at the Healing Loft in Minneapolis, I still have conducted evening sessions at my Brooklyn Center location. Well, I'm now back there for a while.

When you enter through my front door, you will be greeted by my wife, Gwyn and myself - and our  canine "office staff" - two eight-year-old shelty-poo pups named Libby and Stormy. You will find a delightful atmosphere here, homey, family-centered, and deeply healing.

I focus on helping those who feel stuck in life, be it in the middle of career or life transition, coming to terms with extraordinary experiences, dealing with personal or spiritual crises, or other forms of crossroads in one's life-path. I invite you to let me be a deeply caring guide. Allow me to help you shine new light on your footsteps along the road to success.

I'll keep ya all posted on how the location situation develops. And in the mean time, I will continue on as before, helping build the Cosmic Bridge for those experiencing the extraordinary and playing my part in the process of growth, exploration and healing for mind, body, spirit and beyond.

Transcendence and democracy

Since I started with transcendental meditation a few months ago, I've been attending the Friday study group at the Saint Paul TM center. They usually begin with 20 minutes of meditation, then have some really interesting topics associated with meditation and spiritual growth. This study in particular was most interesting in that it dealt with the idea of transcendence in our society, in our politics, economics, etc. In an election year such as this, the topic seems even more germane.

The speaker (can't remember her name, but she's a professor at Maharishi Uiversity in Fairfield, IA), talked about the idea of transcendence (a step toward enlightenment) gradually taking hold in the west. Going back to the mid 1800s, with Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, etc., the idea of a society founded upon enlightened principles - and beyond that, to unity, itself - took hold.

Emerson spoke of the USA one day advancing from a purely political democracy to become a spiritual democracy. What would such a society entail? What would be the hallmarks of such a society? Are we moving in that direction at all? As I look at the political ads a few months before Election Day, I seriously wonder.

I imagine a time when we begin to see ourselves as citizens of Earth, as well as of the USA. Like being citizens of the particular city and state, then the nation, ultimately will we see ourselves as citizens of Earth? Will we begin to see the interconnection of all things? The unity of all things created by God?

Will we see a more civil politics? Will we see less greed in the financial world? Or will something completely different happen?

In other posts and articles, I have talked about the rise of the Indigo and Crystal children, of changes as they come into positions of leadership. Will this have any effect on the national politics? etc... Only time will tell. And then, if the new age pundits are right, we'll see whether transcendence and democracy mix.

Upcoming Radio Show

Another item checked off the checklist - my newsletter is out for this month. And only two weeks late. Life has been going at a fever pitch the last two weeks and I haven't had time to stop and breath, much less finish my newsletter. Life is what happens while you are busy making plans - or writing newsletters, I guess. Which is probably a blessing in disguise. It gives me the chance to add another item to my upcoming events list:

I will be on Live at the Healing Loft on Monday Sept 24th at 7PM discussing hypnotherapy, extraordinary experiences and rediscovering your path in life. 

Listen to it on blog talk radio at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thehealingloft or show up for the live gathering at The Healing Loft: 2112 Broadway St. NE Suite 250, in northeast Minneapolis.

Hope you can tune in and join me.

A cool fall night

I just got back from taking the dogs for their nightly walk. I love this time of year - clear, crisp and stark. The clouds that had been heavy in the sky were clearing out, leaving sky black and starry. In the east, the Pleiades are half way up in the sky and Jupiter low on the horizon. It was one of those nights that makes you imagine anything is possible out there.

The movie we played back earlier this evening (see my previous post) had gotten my own childlike sense of wonder going. So I spent some time simply staring up at the sky. Just like I did as a little kid, I found myself looking up and wondering - was something looking back?

In the year or two - or ten - we have made so many science breakthroughs. Biology, astronomy, physics, and so many other fields have seen rapid advances. We are on the verge of discovering life somewhere out there and I believe we are in for some really big science surprises.

But the I think biggest thing - something pretty much unacknowledged - is that we are probably on the verge of developing star travel. Several groups have sprung up, with names like the 100 Year Starship Program and American Antigravity, just to name a few. If any of these trees bear any fruit, we are probably at the very humble beginnings of our journey to the stars.

I believe that our destiny is among the stars. Yet, I also believe that we need to be good neighbors when we go - and current events suggest to me that at the moment, we would probably be anything but. If we do begin to travel out there in a fleet of starships armed with phasers and photon torpedoes, I suspect the neighbors wouldn't let us get very far. Likely we would be in for a very rude, catastrophic surprise.

So as our technology advances, my own view is that it is imperative that our level of civilization advance, too. Our collective souls need to catch up to our technology before we become the barbarians at our neighbors' gates. And in the process we need to maintain that childlike sense of wonder, the same sense I had tonight as I stared up into the stars of a cool fall night.

A Fairy Tale

I saw an interesting re-play of an old movie, A Fairy Tale, which we played back this evening during the Movie Night at the Theosophical Society. The movie was made in the late 1990s (it was on VHS, complete with previews for coming attractions in 1998). It gave a great look back into the mind of one of the strangest phenomena yet described - at least in my book - fairies.

The movie entitled Fairytale, is based upon a true story, told from the point of view of two children, living in England during the time of world war 1. The children, it turns out, have been having regular interactions with wee folk, or faeries (not sure of the actual spelling). At one point, they "borrow"a brand new (circal 1916) box camera and get several pictures of tiny winged people - fairies - interacting with them.

This takes place as world war 1 is raging in France and their father is off fighting for the British. Their  mother is also dead, so they are living with their uncle and aunt. Their Aunt is badly missing her sister, their mother, and desperately wants to believe in anything that might connect her to the afterlife. Meanwhile, the uncle is a rather open-minded but skeptical - skeptical, that is, until he sees the photographs. The father is a photographer, a rare breed in the early 20th century. He develops the pictures and discovers the images - and the rest of the story stems from there.

We meet two famous historical figures of the early 1900's, Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle has lost his son (not sure if it was in the war, or what) and is also predisposed to the idea of mediumship. We see Houdini portrayed initially as quite a skeptic and debunker. As the story progresses, they get wind of the pictures and investigate for themselves.

The movie does a great job of portraying Houdini as a skeptical investigator, and in the end he appears to be stumped. He doesn't really believe in fairies, but at the same time, he comes to the conclusion that the pictures are legitimate. Thus, like so many rational investigators are forced to do when finally confronted with something that cannot be easily explained, he simply says that whatever happened is beyond his understanding. Thus, the movie does a good job of portraying him as a good model for an investigator - rational but open to the eventuality that some things occur far beyond our explanation.

In the movie, we see everything from the childrens' point of view, with the fantastical being real. We see the fairies flitting around and thus, in the context of the film, we know they are real. Yet then we look at them from the adult point of view and see how they "couldn't possibly be real". In the end, we are left with the age-old paradox - it couldn't possibly be real but it couldn't be anything else but.

On my own website, I have an article entitled Wonder and Rationality, the Dilemma of a Skeptical UFO Investigator, in which I posit the same scenario - using UFOs rather than fairies. What does the rational investigator do when confronted with the extraordinary. In the end, Houdini does exactly what I would endeavor to do. He concludes that there does not appear to be a hoax and whatever happened has been legitimately recorded (making absolutely sure that is correct, of course). He states that whatever the children experienced is unexplained - then leaves it at that.

While I would have to be pretty skeptical about the actual premise, that fairies are real, in the context of the movie we simply accept that they are and build the story around that. Ultimately, the real lesson is in the joy of seeing the world through the eyes of the child. The fantastical is real and the world is wondrous. Like the shamans of native cultures, they see the world as a place of spirits and wonders and it is only our hard-nosed western world that takes that away as we grow up.

I loved the movie for that, if nothing else. It was a great study in contrasts between the child,  greedy skeptical adults and lovely earth spirits flitting about in the garden. It was truly aptly named - A Fairy Tale.

The Akashic library and life at a psychic fair

I'm now decompressing after a fascinating and fast-paced weekend. I spent the weekend at the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community Psychic Fair and it was a wonderful experience. I met a lot of fascinating people, sold a fair number of books and self-hypnosis CDs and, equally as important, I learned a lot.

Saturday was probably one of the best days I've had for visitors to my table. I spent several hours talking with various people about hypnosis and hypnotherapy, parapsychology, anomalies and close encounters, and lots of related stuff. Quite a few people came up to me and told me what was going on in their lives - and frequently, their stories were filled with emotion. I was truly struck at the degree of healing, and the need for healing, that is present in our world.

One continuing favorite at my table was my self-hypnosis CD entitled In the Akashic Hall. It is a guided meditation taking the listener into an imaginary library and to a book with information about whatever question(s) he/she may be considering . In past shows and talks, I have gotten interesting comments about insights people have experienced when they let their own subconscious guide them to their particular answers. And hopefully, their experiences with this are no exception.

The whole concept of the Akashic records fascinates me. It is an ancient Vedic concept that the universe has an underlying information storage - a memory of all that is, has-been and will-be. Until recently, I probably would have poo-poohed such an idea, yet in the last few years, I have read material in the scientific literature about the very same thing.

Michael Talbot's book, The Holographic Universe, was the first to sway my thoughts on the topic. In it, he describes in layman's terms, the non-local quantum hologram. The quantum hologram effectively forms a record within the fabric of space-time itself, a memory of everything - thoughts, physical events, forces, and anything that could be said to exist. When you stop to think about it, this is a truly amazing concept - the idea that there is a 'God' field out there, recording and knowing everything about everything.

On Saturday evening, I attended a talk put on by Dawn Marian, a psychic who specializes in working with the Akashic records. She conducted a reading using her own process and rituals, to address what appears to be happening and what we can expect in the final quarter of this fabled year 2012. In her readings, she apparently dialogs with the keepers of the records, themselves, letting them interpret the questions and answers. While many are probably quite discerning about whether they accept such channeled informaton, I found it thought-provoking at the very least.

One thing she emphasized during the readings was that the transitions that we often refer to as 2012 have already happened. We are in the midst of them. The very fact that the talk had so many people in attendance was evidence for that very point.

She further stated that there will probably not be any one event - a specific disaster or symbolic event.
Rather, she indicated that changes would be within each person. The news is full of portents of disaster. Environmental collapse, war, economic chaos, etc. Her take on this was that what is breaking down is what is already broken. The old needs to be swept away as the new arises.

And what is the new that is arriving? As I plink away on my next novel in the Children of the Stars series, I have been asking this very thing. I have never gotten a really solid (left brained) answer to this question. So I posed the question to her during the reading. She replied in several ways, generally indicating I already knew the answer. Her specific reply was that I should have the main character be on a hero's journey - which is probably the most likely course the book will take.

Like most other seers I have heard address this question, she stated that there will not be any defining symbolic or cataclysmic event. Rather, there will seem to be a continuing acceleration of the pace of events. As we reach the critical point, will that pace climax and then slack off? Her answer was no. Rather, we will collectively appear to catch up to the faster pace.

The next day, back at my table, I noted a even more interest in my In the Akashic Hall CD. It struck me how this self-hypnotic journey could be a great follow-up after having someone do a reading such as I had heard the evening before. I believe that each person can be their own best psychic. By taking the listener into a guided meditation where they can enter the library of the sub/super-conscious, they can access their own higher knowledge. Like any psychic answers, one need to use a lot of discernment. Yet I have found that, looking for the answers in one's own higher mind can be an excellent tool for insight into the deeper questions of life.

It will be fascinating to see what the next few months has in store for us. How accurate were the readings and predictions I heard this weekend? And as the the final quarter of 2012 unfolds, it will be interesting to recall and compare events to what I heard channeled from the Akashic library and from life at a psychic fair.

A red aura and a heavy load

A few days ago, while in my booth at a healers' trade show, I had the opportunity to talk with a wonderful lady in her sixties. She was a font of life experience with a wonderful sense of humor - and a lot of problems. She had just had her aura read and photographed. She described the reading and showed me the picture - a solid red orb surrounding her body.

As she talked, it became apparent she was under considerable life stress. Her shoulders were stooped, as if carrying a heavy weight. Her voice sounded furtive, as if she were worried that the next person she talked to would hurt her - perhaps once more. I asked her if there was a way I could help her. In response, she described a lifetime of difficulty with pain, primarily in her neck and shoulders. Unfortunately, her situation is all too typical.

When I work with people undergoing a lot of stress, one of the physical manifestations I see is in the shoulders. Posture is often stooped, shoulders hunched and back braced, as if the person was carrying a heavy weight on their shoulders. Indeed, like Atlas, she was carrying the responsibilities and concerns of her world.

Often, stress - or vulnerability to stress - stems from a past event, probably early in life. At some point, an event occurred which instilled fear, perhaps at an early age. During hypnotherapy, as we follow the trail of emotion back into the person's past, we find that something occurred in early childhood - something that told them they were not good enough, it was their fault, or a related fallacy.

As we discover the event, release and forgive whatever the source might have been, and let that tiny wounded child understand that it really does have the capability to handle the challenges of today's world, I often see something amazing. The shoulders relax. The client sits up taller in the chair. Posture becomes taller. It is as if the person has cast aside a heavy weight, moving from fear into freedom.

I'm not all that good at seeing auras, especially colors, but in many cases, I note that as the person't outlook changes from fear to hope, their life field changes as well. One can almost see the change as the weight is shed from the shoulders. Fear gives way to freedom and gives way to becomes joy.